I have a question about the clutch master cylinder and how it might relate to premature clutch wear. I have my car in the shop right now having the clutch master cylinder replaced. They just replaced my transmission, clutch, and flywheel after only 35,xxx miles. The transmission was under warranty but they nailed me for the flywheel and clutch. I thought it was odd that I had blown through a clutch after such a short time, especially because I have a Jeep with 165,xxx miles still on the original clutch. I don't drive the car hard, and my Jeep should be evidence that I am capable of driving a stick without causing excessive or premature wear.

Is it possible that a malfunctioning clutch master cylinder could be the culprit which caused my clutch to burn up after such a short period? I would like to make the case to the dealer that it was a failure related to the master cylinder and that Nissan should pick up the cost of the clutch and flywheel. Do I have a snowballs chance that I could convince them of this or am I off base?

 

Possible? Maybe, if it was preventing the clutch from full disengaging, but you'd know that because it would be tough to shift and you'd smell burnt clutch - a lot. However unlikely, esp if the FW and clutch parts show signs of high heat or discoloration. Clutch being a wear item in any case it will be very hard to make a case with the dealer, depends on how they view you as a customer and how much they value your business. Most of the replacement cost is likely labor, hard for them to eat that unless they can get warranty reimbursement like the trans - and that's still not very lucrative for the dealer.

IMHO the OEM clutch is a POS that is underspec'd for the car's intended use, mine also lasted <35k miles. I replaced it with a much stronger engaging JWT and am much happier. The OEM spec clutch is no better than you'd find in an Altima or Maxima, what does that tell you? Get used to the idea you'll replace it again unless 99% of your miles are fwy only w/o stop and go traffic.

My dealer also tried to tell me I needed a new $1100 FW, I told them don't touch the car, I'll get my own FW and clutch elsewhere. For $800 I went JWT on both, $400 installation including Motul trans fluid which was a good part of that. Now it always engages firmly, I realized later that the OEM had always been slipping a little esp under near-WOT shifts. Stop and go traffic plus heat are death for the OEM clutch, too, it just can't handle the torque.

If you retained old parts, and could show that the clutch had no signs of what they could call "abuse" you might have some chance, or split the cost with them, whatever, but I also seriously question why the FW needed replacing vs. resurfacing. Problem is constant wear due to not disengaging is going to look a lot like you didn't push the pedal far enough - who can say?

My clutch was basically all used up at 35k, I was very surprised and pissed, I've never replaced a clutch in a street car before 80k, and some not until well over 100k miles, too. But it was toast...and the car will never see an OEM clutch again.

 

^Great Info...

 

thx, forgot to add some more info click on pic, just more pics
- ST

 

That's kind of what I thought. The clutch is a normal wear item so it's going to depend on how much they are willing to give. Most likely they will dig their heels in because they can. It doesn't help that I've already paid for the clutch and flywheel. At this point, they would probably have to run it up the ranks to get permission to give me a credit on it. I doubt that will happen.

I did get a letter in the mail from them thanking me for having them service my car and asking that if I get a survey from Nissan and there is something that I won't respond to as excelent, that I call them first so they can resolve the issue for me. I guess I could use that as my trump card but again that is only as good as the value that they put on receiving good survey responses.

 

related recent post

JWT Clutch/Flywheel Review

 

If the new clutch they just put in wears out after another 35k miles, I'm definitely going this direction.

 

It might not be a terrible idea to go back every 10k miles or so to where the new clutch was installed and request "inspection & adjustment" N/C - you paid enough already for it. That way you have at least a series of points in time with mileage recorded by the dealer where they looked at the functionality of the clutch, MC, etc, just in case it blows sooner than later. Then it's hard to argue if it was all good for say 20k and it's fubar at 25k that you did anything "wrong". I also rarely hear clutch MC failures short of contaminants in the fluid, usually it's the slave cylinder instead.

 

Not a bad idea on the 10k inspection interval. I'll see if I can talk them into that.

The slave cylinder was my initial suspicion too. If it's still doing what it was doing when I get it back, I'll turn around and take it right back up there.

 

dude my clutch has only 35k miles on it and they are saying it needs replacing. i have had mushy clutch off and on for the past year. it's especially bad when it's really hot out. i also don't drive my car hard and don't ride the clutch...it's infuriating that i pay for the extended warranty, treat my car well, and now have to spend $1500 for a new clutch after 35,000 miles.

i am canceling the extended warranty, screw this.

 

As much as it hurts, keep the extended warranty. There's plenty of problems that can show up after the 4 years, esp things to do with electronics or even just wiring, window motors/BCM, dude I wish I had one. It would have saved me over $500 already in things that were not drivetrain or engine related and cost a lot to fix, and I could only really get diagnosed and fixed by the stealership.

Bad when it's hot out, that's a sure early sign, mine did the same thing. It just didn't last what you'd expect. That's why I really don't advocate OEM replacement unless that is what you really want, the cost and next replacement won't be any better in another 30k miles.

 

Looks like this message has popped up again so I guess I should give an update on my situation. I ended up calling Nissan N.A. and simply asked for reimbursement for the clutch and flywheel. I politely explained my situation to the customer service person at N.N.A. She really wasn't there to do anything other than log my complaint and pass it along to the appropriate person. A couple days later I got a call from my dealership to let me know that the regional service manager had called them to discuss the problem. My dealership actually went to bat for me and gave the regional mgr. an explanation on how the faulty warranty items, namely the clutch master cylinder, they replaced could have been the reason the clutch wore out prematurely. The regional manager called me a day later to let me know that Nissan has agreed to cover the clutch and flywheel. I got a check in the mail yesterday for the full amount.

I have to say that what could have been a very miserable experience, and one that would have probably driven me to another brand for my next purchase, turned into a very satisfying experience overall. I can't praise both my dealership and Nissan N.A. enough for the way they handled my situation.

 

That's great! I can see how the MC could contribute, but really it starts with your dealer going to bat for you. I have a great relationship with my Nissan dealer and the same SM, dating back to the early 1990's, their service is over the top goodness. Too bad I couldn't until recently have my G Coupe serviced there, because a lot of stuff has been warranty-related.

For example, I recently had a front driveaxle and CV's replaced on my '91 Sentra SE-R there, back in Sept. It started failing recently, and despite having sourced the assembly from a rebuilt/reman distributor, they replaced it entirely for free, 9 months later. They won't likely get anything back except part credit for the replacement part, the labor they eat. Would have cost me $300 but they warranty parts and labor for 12 months or 12,000 miles free of defects or problems related to the repair. That's more than fair IMHO.

They also don't treat me like a pariah with my older Nissans, something I've run into elsewhere, like a certain exhaust shop in Canton, CT called "SADIM" spelled backwards.

If you haven't already, you should tell the world who these guys are - in my case, it's Hoffman (was Wagner) Nissan in Simsbury, CT, soon Avon, CT. Their service is tops, has been for over a decade, and blows my Infiniti dealer out of the water.

 

Question... how do you go about getting a dealer to go to bat for you? I am in the same boat with the clutch, just at 28k miles. I wish i could get either of the 2 dealerships I have gone to to take a step in the right direction, and just choke up the cost of the warranty.

The first dealership I went to, the svc mgr wouldn't even look at my car. I walked out and swore not to go back, even though it is 10 minutes from home. The second one I went to was awesome. the svc mgr took the time to have a tech drive the car, and supposedly checked out the slave and master cyl's. But, everything checked out fine except the clutch... which i am suspicious about. I think the slave went out, causing my bad clutch. I can't be sure though, I don't know how to check the thing, and why should I when its under warranty?